Paula Vogel

Theater

How I Learned to Act: BCAP’s “How I Learned to Drive”

Thumbnail image for How I Learned to Act: BCAP’s “How I Learned to Drive” February 17, 2010

It’s not my practice to rail into student and fringe productions, because I think that when everyone’s working for free and they’re practically giving away tickets, they just don’t deserve it. It’s more important to describe what they’re doing, rather than what they’re not doing. That’s not to say that I don’t often see student [...]

Theater

The Holidays at the Huntington: “A Civil War Christmas”

Thumbnail image for The Holidays at the Huntington: “A Civil War Christmas” November 21, 2009

Like the Christmas movie, the holiday show exists within its own genre. A Christmas play seeks to satisfy the criteria set by its genre even before it even tries to be a good play, because what’s a Christmas play if it’s not sentimental, accessible, family-oriented, overtly American, and evocative of the values we all tend [...]